Naruto: The Outsider’s Resolve

CH_9.2 (317)

The day after Takuma returned from the ANBU recruitment, he found himself visiting the Torture and Interrogation headquarters. While he was away, they sent an invitation to Maruboshi's house. How did they find he was living there? Oishi Yori, Taro's mom, asked her son who gave her Takuma's current location along with the fact that he was away at the moment.

"T&I is interested in me?" Takuma asked Anko as she gave him a tour of the headquarters. He had already been to the headquarters while leading the Narcotics Taskforce and consulted with Yori on cases—but it was his first time roaming around the facility instead of making a bee-line to Yori's office.

"Yes, they are," Anko grinned and slapped him on the back. She wore an outfit made from thin metal mesh that fit the lines of her body, covering her from neck to thigh. Over it, she wore a tan overcoat with a purple in-seam and a dark orange mini skirt. "They know all about your work in the Police Force; they found out about the interrogation you did before you arrived at Camp Banana—and I told them about the information gathering and interrogation you performed in Yu."

Takuma was momentarily worried about what Anko might have shared, but the nervousness faded almost immediately. He trusted her to be discreet because she knew what he thought about their time in Yu. He also considered that T&I would regardless know about his actions as they were part of his file, and it wasn't difficult to access it. He was about to meet two Tokubetsu Jonin, who would have enough clearance to know all about him. The only thing they would struggle to access would be his Police Force records, as those files weren't shared with outsiders without a proper reason, and even then, the Police Force made it difficult as they didn't want their internal matters to be aired out.

However, they didn't need his official records because informal flow of information always existed. People knew things, and they talked. There was bound to be someone somewhere in the Police Force who shared what they knew about him. Moreover, Yori knew a lot about his important cases—because he only called her when there was a problem the Narcotic Taskforce couldn't handle on its own.

Takuma just assumed they knew plenty. Since they were interested, he believed they liked what they saw or, at the very least, didn't mind it. It was no use wasting his time and mental bandwidth thinking about what they knew.

"How was your trip?" asked Anko.

"Tiring," Takuma replied with the truth. "I should've just stayed at home and trained." His time in the Narcotics Taskforce, which was around nine months, had slowed down his growth to a crawl. The exuberant free time at Camp Banana had allowed him to learn new ninjutsu, improve his chakra augmentation, and even work on bridging the energy imbalance—but he felt he hadn't done enough. There was so much more work he could, wanted, and needed to do.

"You need to rest more and train less," she sighed.

"Have you already started work?" he asked.

Anko joined Torture and Interrogation after her return from the Steam-Frost war. Although she had been selected before the war, her deployment delayed her joining.

"Yeah, it'll take some time to get used to working, but I've already made acquaintances and friends. It's sure to be smooth sailing," she said before humming a tune softly.

He gazed at her from the side. She seemed much more carefree from when they were at Yu or even Camp Banana, and he was glad to see that as it meant that she had shed the weight she carried during the war. He knew what the position at the Torture and Interrogation meant for Anko; it represented a chance to start fresh.

His eyes briefly gazed at the back of her shoulder. Even though they hadn't discussed it, he knew the true burden she carried. Her past with Orochimaru was something that might never leave her, but as long as she could prove herself in this new place, she could at least move forward.

"Have you seen the dungeons yet?" he asked.

"Dungeons? You mean, the interrogation cells?"

"No, I mean dungeons. You haven’t? Yeah, they have dungeons where they keep people for months."

"No way, come on."

"Nasty place. Keep one of those herbal fragrant inhalers on hand."

No such dungeons existed. He was just pulling it out of his ass because it fit T&I's image to have some dungeon-like place. If it were someone else, they would show concern and nervousness, but as he glanced at his former team leader, who had poisoned him in the name of training, he saw curiosity and excitement in her eyes.

Perhaps it was impossible for her to leave her connection to Orochimaru behind.

They arrived at the Head of Torture and Interrogation's office.

The nameplate on the door said:

{Tokubetsu Jonin Morino Ibiki}

The assistant shinobi dressed in the standard grey Torture and Interrogation uniform guided them into the office. In fact, everyone else other than Anko wore the uniform. He was dressed in the standard Leaf shinobi gear.

"Welcome, Genin Takuma. I've been looking forward to seeing you," Morino Ibiki said as he stood behind his desk. His gravely deep voice matched his rugged looks. The two thin scars on the front of his face enhanced his menacing appearance. If nothing else, he looked the part of the Head of Torture and Interrogation.

"I believe it's our first time meeting, sir. I've heard plenty about you from Tokubetsu Jonin Yori," said Takuma as he shook Ibiki's hand.

"She has told me much about you as well," said Ibiki. As he gestured for Takuma to sit, he spoke to Anko, "You must be busy; you may leave, Chunin Anko."

"Eh? Not really," she whispered.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing. Alright, I will see you later, Takuma," Anko patted him on the shoulder before leaving them alone.

Ibiki sighed at the door before sitting down.

"I will not beat around the bush, Genin Takuma. Tokubetsu Jonin Yori has been interested in you for a long time and has been lobbying for you to join us... Seeing that your contract with the Police Force is almost over, I decided to meet to see if you would be interested in joining Torture and Interrogation."

Takuma already knew about it from Anko, but it was still surprising to hear it from Ibiki's mouth. When he returned from the war, he thought the Chunin Exam was the natural progression—but here he was being headhunted by various entities. He understood that he had developed a professional reputation that others found valuable enough to recruit him—but it felt that things were changing too fast. Now, he had another offer before him that he needed to juggle along with the ones he already had his hands full with.

"It would be a delight to work somewhere as prestigious as Torture and Interrogation, sir," said Takuma. It wasn't flattery; T&I seemed like it was a good place to work. It came under the umbrella of the larger Intelligence Division, which was an important entity in the Hidden Leaf and thus offered many opportunities.

Their reputation in regards to work culture was also quite popular—which was a big positive for Takuma, who valued being able to focus on work without dealing with all the office politics bullshit. He knew things like that would exist regardless of where he worked, but he appreciated it if it was less obtrusive.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"Why would you be interested in joining us?" asked Ibiki.

Takuma thought about it for a moment. "I know the importance of what you do here. Information is power and, many a time, more important than military strength itself. If you don't know what's coming, no amount of strength will allow you to stop it before it's too late... The Department of Torture and Interrogation and the larger Intelligence Division are vital to the security of our nation, and I would like to contribute to that."

"So the importance of your work matters a lot to you?"

"Not really," Takuma replied without needing to think. "A job is a job. Of course, I would prefer if the work I'm doing is important—but even importance is many times subjective—something important for you might not be for me—at the end of the day, what matters to me the most is a good work environment and competitive compensation."

In other words, he wanted to be paid well.

His results from ANBU hadn't come in yet. If he didn't have Mikoto's offer, he would be trying to put more of an appeal in front of Ibuki—but because he had a rank promotion, he had the flexibility to be bold.

"Is that so," said Ibuki, sitting up straighter in his chair. "And what do you think is a competitive compensation?"

"A chunin rank promotion, my own team, a 'CN-3' pay grade as the base right from the start, a signing bonus, and immediate access to B-rank jutsu archive," said Takuma.

The Police Force, ANBU, and Torture and Interrogation were very different places.

Even though the Police Force was a Hidden Leaf entity, it was entirely run by the Uchiha clan without any oversight—so even though Setsuns was a Police Force representative, Takuma was negotiating with the Uchiha clan. However, Torture and Interrogation had no such clan backing. As such, he had to change demands they could realistically fulfil.

He had asked Setsuna for access to "jutsu archives," and even though it was left unsaid, he meant Uchiha clan's "jutsu archives." Torture and Interrogation had no such personal archives, so he couldn't put that demand—so he changed it to a higher pay grade. When he was a genin, he started with a "GN-1" pay grade, the lowest a genin could get. He had walked up to a "GN 5" pay grade when he joined the Narcotics Taskforce, the highest a genin could get, along with some Police Force bonuses. Upon a chunin rank promotion, he would start with a "CN-1" pay grade, the lowest a chunin could get, but he demanded to start at "CN-3" as base, excluding T&I departmental incentives and bonuses.

Unlike the Uchiha clan, Torture and Investigation couldn't give him a B-rank jutsu, so to compensate, he asked them for immediate access to the village's B-rank archives, which were usually only unlocked one year after the chunin promotion. He had just enough money to purchase a B-rank jutsu.

Another one of his demands to the Police Force was to have his choice of assignment. He could ask them about it because of his existing track record. However, he would be a new outsider to the Torture and Interrogation; he couldn't decide what he wanted to work on, so he asked for a team—so even if he was given work he did not like, he would be able to handle it on his terms. It was a difficult demand, but negotiations were supposed to be challenging.

Finally, he asked for a signing bonus as a cherry on top to sweeten the deal.

If he was being honest, Torture and Interrogation was at an inherent disadvantage. The Police Force had the advantage of familiarity with Mikoto's offer, which he was thinking about accepting if he went with the Police Force. By tying his wagon to the Uchiha horse, he would have a much easier time progressing in his career. ANBU had the almost overwhelming advantage of incentives in terms of jutsu access. Their only disadvantage was the five-year term. He would be locked in and unable to pursue a better opportunity.

"That is indeed competitive," said Ibiki, his tone hiding that he disagreed.

Takuma wanted to nod. Even though he had worked with Taro's mom, that wasn't enough for the Head of Torture and Interrogation to be convinced that he was worthy enough to warrant such a generous compensation package. The demands would've been much more acceptable if he was a seasoned chunin—but for a genin, who would take up one of the department's promotion slots—the demands were difficult to accept.

"Very well, we will return to you with our decision," said Ibiki while standing up, signalling that the conversation was over.

They had barely started to talk, and the conversation had already ended. Takuma knew that Ibiki didn't appreciate his terms.

"Please, take your time," Takuma smiled. Being so upfront with his demands was a gamble, so losing Ibiki's interest wasn't that surprising. He didn't blame the man; his response would've been similar if he had been in the position.

"May I ask where you base your expectations from?" asked Ibiki.

"I have been offered something similar," Takuma replied.

"Oh, and who might that be?"

Takuma couldn't answer the question because neither the Uchiha nor the ANBU had officially extended their offers. Without official confirmations, he couldn't voice his claims—but he could hint without going into the specifics.

"We can talk about that when you extend an offer in earnest," he smiled.

———
 .

After he met with Ibiki, Takuma visited Anko and Yori separately and set up plans to have a meal with Anko along with Kameko and visit the Oishi family at their home for dinner. As he was leaving the headquarters, he looked up and saw Amami walking in his direction with four other shinobi in tow, all looking busy and in a hurry.

The Torture and Interrogation uniform looked surprisingly suitable on Amami. Perhaps it was because she looked comfortable in it.

She had been very playful during their team-up. He decided to return the favour.

Amami looked up and saw Takuma wave at her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked as she stopped, utterly surprised.

Takuma didn't stop and patted her on the shoulder.

"I came to apply for your job, of course," he said before leaning in to whisper in her ear: "You better pass the recruitment because you're out of the job here."

He winked and patted her shoulder before walking away.

"Huh?" she asked, startled.

Takuma didn't turn around and simply waved his hand as he continued to walk.

 

 

 

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